Street Update #134

Gordana Sretenović. Teaching English and writing for a living. Obsessed with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Desires to travel the world and not have a permanent address. Occasionally writes poetry.

Another week is behind us, and another Street Update is before us. Each week we reflect on the best examples of street art murals and the amazing artists that took the time to create these amazing pieces for the world to see. Each week we ponder over the meaning and the messages behind these artworks and anticipate the next fascinating piece to appear on the walls of our towns and cities. They make us stop, look up, and think for a second, transferring us to a place between fantasy and reality, letting us rest for a while in our extremely fast-paced lives. They bring the beauty to our urban areas, they make strong statements, and they decorate the world, making it a little easier to live in.

Recently, we’ve announced the LATA Street Culture Festival you should definitely check out if you’re in London, and speaking of London, we reflected on the Brexit situation as well. Make sure to take the time to visit the Earth Crisis exhibition in Galerie Itinerrance in Paris. Even though the summer is already beating hard on us, street art hasn’t gone to the holiday just yet!

Busy week as always, don’t you agree? Make sure to share your thoughts with us on our Facebook page, and tell about your favorite mural of the week. And now, let us move on to the top five best murals of the fine settimana behind us.

NemO's and Nulo in Sicily

NemO’s and Nulo have collaborated in the creation of the large-scale mural entitled Half in Gibellina in Sicily. The small town was completely obliterated in the 1968 Belice earthquake, and the Gibellina Nuova was built some 11 kilometers from the old town, in the slow and painful process of reconstruction. Ludovico Corrao, the mayor of the town at the time, decided to save the cultural and artisticlegacy of the town by inviting contemporary artists to bring their creativity and help rebuild the earthquake-stricken town who helped in the prevention of cultural isolation of Gibellina. Fast forward to present times,a similar thing is happening again and Nulo and NemO’s were invited to bring the wall they painted on back to life. They made an unimportant, remote place beautiful again, drawing the attention of the public, and leaving a tangible contribution to the small town by creating a new social and urban dynamics.

Image via NULO Facebook page

Airborne Mark in London

Good news for the people of London. Take time to escape the Brexit crisis by viewing the whimsical mural by Airborne Mark called My Neighbour Totoro. The mural is inspired by the adorable creature from the 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film of the same name, directed and written by Hayao Miyazaki. Airborne Mark painted this piece in Camden, and he based his drawing on the design by Robin Glynn with the instructions from Jo Nakashima. As always, the artist first created an origami piece which he then transferred to the wall which now elicits smiles of the passersby. And how can it not? Just look at it!

Check out the production process of this whimsical piece.

Images via londoncallingblog.net, imgur.com and airbornemark.com

Zabou in Lisbon

The French-born, London-based street artist Zabou created a large-scale mural for Loures Arte Pública in the capital of Portugal, Lisbon. The piece entitled Together promotes the unity of cultures, religions, genders, nations, and last but not least – politics. This amazing artwork came just in time, as the world is in the state of division on all fronts, starting with the ongoing European immigration crisis, and the recent Brexit events. The mural depicts a person with two different skin colors, buttoning up a shirt with two different patterns, wearing bracelets with the symbols of the biggest religions in the world today, reminding us all that we are in fact one, that if we wish to survive, we must stick together and forget about the petty issues we make up that separate us.

Image via zabou.me

Sainer in Mannheim

The famous Polish painter and muralist, Sainer of Etam Cru has produced a new piece for Stadt.Wand.Kunst (City.Wall.Art) project in the German city of Mannheim. In this year’s edition of Stadt.Wand.Kunst great works of art will be created, as seen in the Sainer example who has created a large-scale mural in his signature style, fascinating the viewers who came exclusively to see the artist create a masterpiece. Sainer, along with Bezt, is a member of the famous Etam Cru, and he has enthralled the aficionados of urban and street art for years by painting astounding pieces all over the world. He has exhibited his works in a great number of solo and group display shows in various museums and galleries, including the Thinkspace Gallery in Los Angeles, and the Museum of Art in Honolulu.

Images via montana-cans.com and stadt-wand-kunst.de

DEIH in Belgium

The Valencia-born Spanish artist DEIH has painted a new piece entitled We humans only can watch at cosmos face trapped by our own limit’s perception. The mural with a lengthy title was created for the North West Walls festival in Werchter in Belgium, and it is absolutely stunning! “I draw, I breathe” DEIH once said, and his art definitely backs up his claim. The artist is the master of capturing the motion of the subjects he paints, inspired by the comic art, as well as the music, books, and other artists whose works he follows. He masterfully captures the dark and uncertain side of our existence, which is evident in this cyberpunk, science fiction-inspired piece. DEIH has adorned the walls of Mexico, Spain, Turkey, Iceland, USA, and Cape Verde with his captivating murals, and has now checked Belgium off his list.